Lost Summer : Foul Feathers

Just a few miles south of the appropriately named Quarantine Bay in Louisiana, the people at the Fort Jackson Bird Rehabilitation Center cleaned oil-soaked birds most of the summer.

Cases of Dawn dishwashing detergent filled the corners of the building which Melanie Reed of Baton Rouge used as she stood with her arm elbow deep in her state bird’s pouch, cleaning the oily pelican literally inside and out.

Meanwhile, more oil-soaked birds huddled nearby waiting their turn, and media-weary workers concentrated on their task at hand rather than the gaggle of reporters and photographers looking on.

Minutes after its pouch-cleaning, the pelican was rinsed and carried to a quiet room in the back for drying.

Outside, teams of veterinarians examined the cleaned birds to assess their overall condition. Birds ready for release would be driven to New Orleans, placed on a Coast Guard plane and flown to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, north of Corpus Christi.

There they would be released, far from the oil that had soaked them, hopefully to never meet another oil spill — or a woman determined to clean their pouch — again.